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Quick Guides

FAQs

Q: How long does it take to open a live account?

A: It depends on how quickly you can provide us with the required supporting documents. On average, the process takes a couple of days. Once the documents have been submitted, we will confirm receipt of them and will then contact you again within 48 hours. If you do not get any reply within 3 working days, please contact us to check if we have received your documents.

Q: Where can I download DFTrader from?

A: You can download the DFTrader platform from here. Once your live trading account has been opened, you will receive an email from us containing your username and password.
Note: If you already have the DFTrader platform installed for use with a Demo account, there is no need to download or install it again. Simply select the Live button upon login and continue.

Q: What order types does the DFTrader platform offer?

A: You can place Market, Limit, Stop, Trailing Stop and OCO (One Cancels the Other) orders, which are sent for execution at price levels determined by you, or build an intricate Conditional orders tree according to your trading strategy.
Please refer to the platform Manual for more detailed information on the different order types.

Webinars

What is a Contract for Difference (CFD)

A Contract for Difference (CFD) is an agreement between two parties to exchange the difference
between the current value of an asset and its value at the buy/sell time. It is a product which allows
you to profit from the price movements of shares, indices, futures, and other financial instruments,
without actually owning them - there is no physical purchase of the asset. This means that if you buy
CFDs on Vodafone shares, for example, you do not acquire the actual shares. Nevertheless, you can
profit from the difference between their buy and sell prices.

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How are CFDs traded

CFD trading is an easy and convenient way to trade on the international markets. It is also a flexible
alternative to other types of trading, giving you access to multiple markets from a single account.
CFDs are traded on margin so you can enter the market with only a fraction of the actual capital
needed. You can use CFDs to speculate on the future movement of market prices, regardless of
whether they are rising or falling.

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Long and short positions

CFD trading allows you to profit from both rising and falling markets. You buy (open a long position) if
you think prices will rise, or sell (open a short position) if you think prices will fall.

If you think that an asset will experience a loss in value, you can use CFDs based on it. So your profits
will rise in line with any fall in that price of underlying asset. The more market prices move in the
direction you anticipated, the more profit you will make. The more they move in the opposite
direction, the greater your loss will be. So it’s you who decide how long to keep a position open.

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What is Margin (or Leverage)

One of the advantages of Forex and CFD trading is that you can trade sums much larger than your
account equity. This is known as margin trading (also called leverage), which is the ability to control
more funds (borrowed from your broker) than the amount of your deposit, in order to increase the
potential return of an investment. Contracts for Difference can be traded on margin.

With a margin requirement of 5% (leverage of 1:20), for instance, you can trade with £10,000 by
having just £500 (5% margin) in your account. This means that you can take advantage of the
smallest market movements by controlling more money than you actually own.

While leverage can be advantageous in increasing your profits, it can also significantly increase your
losses, so it should be used with caution.

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What is Hedging in Forex and CFD trading

Hedging can be described as insuring your investment against a possible negative event in the future.
It doesn’t prevent the event from occurring, but rather aims to reduce its negative impact by
reducing your exposure to risk.

If you believe your current portfolio may lose some of its value, you can use CFDs to compensate for
this loss by short selling.

For example, if you hold £10,000 worth of Barclays shares, you can short sell the equivalent of
£10,000 worth of these shares through a CFD trade.

In case Barclays share price falls by 5%, the loss in value of your share portfolio would be
compensated by a gain in your short sell CFD trade. Many traders use CFDs to hedge their portfolios,
especially in volatile markets.

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CFD trading costs

A major advantage of CFD trading is the lower trading costs, as opposed to traditional share trading.

Not only are CFDs traded on margin, thus requiring a fraction of the full cost to open a position, but
also the minimum amount to place a trade is one CFD.

DF Markets imposes no minimum requirements for opening a trading account. In fact, you can start
trading with whatever amount you feel comfortable with. This way, you can test your trading
strategies without the need to invest a large amount of money. In any case, your funds are protected
according to the rules imposed by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) - up to
£50,000. DF Markets participates in this fund in order to ensure the maximum protection of clients’
money.

There are no commission charges on foreign exchange, precious metals, index, and commodity
transactions on the DFTrader platform. Commission charges do apply for equity trades (Shares and
ETFs).

The commissions associated with CFD trading in shares and ETFs are lower than those paid for
trading on a stock exchange. For example, if you purchased Share CFDs of HSBC Holdings valued at,
say, £3,000, you would pay a commission of only 0.10%, or £3 (the commission for trades above
€10,000 is 0.05% of the trade value). Because the margin requirement is 5%, you would be required
to have only £150 in your account to open that position.

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Company

DF Markets is a trading name of Delta Financial Markets Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, Financial Services Register Number 534027. Registered in England & Wales, company number 07280005.

The information on this website is not directed at, or intended for distribution to, residents of the USA, Belgium or any other jurisdiction where such distribution, availability or use would be contrary to applicable law or regulation.

Financial Spread Bets are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage.88% of retail Spread Betting accounts lose money with this provider.
You should consider whether you understand how Spread Bets work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.